Compiègne

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Coordinates: 49°24′54″N 2°49′23″E / 49.4149, 2.823056

Commune of Compiègne

Town hall of Compiègne
Location
Compiègne (France)
Compiègne
Administration
Country France
Region Picardie
Department Oise (sous-préfecture)
Arrondissement Compiègne
Canton Chief town of 3 cantons
Intercommunality Agglomération de la Région de Compiègne
Mayor Philippe Marini
(2001-2008)
Statistics
Elevation 31 m–134 m
(avg. 41 m)
Land area¹ 53.10 km²
Population²
(1999)		 41,254
 - Density 776.9/km² (1999)
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code 60159/ 60200
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
2 Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) only counted once.
France

Compiègne is a commune in the Oise département of France, of which it is a sous-préfecture. Compiègne is located in the Arrondissement of Compiègne in Oise; the département is part of the region of Picardie.

The city is located along the Oise River. Its inhabitants are called Compiégnois.

Contents

[edit] Administration

Compiègne is the chief town of 3 cantons

  • Canton of Compiègne-Nord (with 5 communes)
  • Canton of Compiègne-Sud-Est (southeast) (with 4 communes)
  • Canton of Compiègne-Sud-Ouest (southwest) (with 5 communes)

[edit] History

665 - Saint Wilfrid consecrated Bishop of York.
February 888 - Odo, Count of Paris and king of the Franks was crowned in Compiègne.
May 23, 1430 - During the Hundred Years' War, Joan of Arc was captured by the Burgundians while attempting to free Compiègne. They then sold her to the English.
1630 - Marie de' Medici's attempts to displace Richelieu ultimately led to her exile to Compiègne, from where she escaped to Brussels in 1631.
November 11, 1918 - The Armistice with Germany (Compiègne), agreed at Le Francport near Compiègne, ends fighting of World War I
June 22, 1940 - Another Armistice with France (Second Compiègne) was signed between Nazi Germany and the defeated France in Le Francport, near Compiègne, in the same place as in 1918, in the same railroad carriage, but with the seats swapped.
1968 - The starting location of the Paris-Roubaix bicycle race was changed from Paris to Compiègne.
2004 - The Communauté de Communes de la Région de Compiègne becomes a partner in a European Union INTERREG IIIb project called SAND (see link below)

[edit] Historical population

  • 1882: 13,393
  • 1990: 41,663 (municipal), 44,703 (total)
  • 1999: 41,076 (municipal), 44,703 (total), 69,903 (agglomeration), urban (108,234)

[edit] Sights

View of downtown Compiègne
View of downtown Compiègne

[edit] Compiègne Forest

Main article: Compiègne Forest

The Compiègne Forest was the site of the signing of two armistices; the 1918 Armistice with Germany and the 1940 Armistice with France. Hitler specifically chose the location, and had the original signing carriage moved from Paris to Compiègne, as an irony for the defeated French. The site still houses several memorials to the 1918 armistice, including a copy of the original railway carriage (the original, after used in the 1940 armistice, was moved to Berlin and subsequently destroyed during an Allied air raid).

[edit] Miscellaneous

Compiègne is the traditional start of the Paris-Roubaix bicycle race. It was also the finish of Stage 3 in the 2007 Tour de France.

[edit] Births

Compiègne was the birthplace of:

[edit] Twin towns

Compiègne is twinned with:

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:




North: Clairoix, Choisy-au-Bac and Margny-lès-Compiègne
West: Jaux, Venette
 Compiègne East: Saint-Jean-aux-Bois and Vieux-Moulin
South: Lacroix-Saint-Ouen